Surviving the Apocalypse - Alas Babylon by Pat Frank

This book was a recent work that I picked up a few days ago. Among many similar stories, Pat’s work stood out simply because of the title that piqued my interest, “ Alas,Babylon”. When you hear the word Babylon, somehow my association was towards a thriving, powerful society that declines. It somehow connects to the symbolism of a downfall on something. If you’re a cinephile, you must have heard/watched Babylon(2022) a story about decadence and its downfall around Hollywood during the 20’s. So you see, Babylon is used to refer to something of a downfall from great excess, to horrors that came after it.

Was the title symbolism itself?

While inside the book pat also talks about the origin of “Alas, babylon” a phrase uttered by characters in the novel, in my opinion it certainly serves as a symbolism. It also refers to specific chapters in the bible about how Babylon was brought down and that is what makes the characters of the novel use it as their “own family code sign”.

In another note, at the time, the US was the power house undergoing a cold war with Russia. Both have different ways of governing their people and somehow they wanted to keep things the way they are until defending the status quo just leads to more wars and eventually loss. Through this Pat somehow re-imagined what if the power house truly fell apart? Was it a mistake of its people or was it because it was bound to happen due to the stagnation that happened?

"Nations are like people. When they grow old and rich and fat they get conservative. They exhaust their energy trying to keep things the way they are—and that’s against nature,"

In this novel, we follow the journey of Randy Bragg, a failed politician who grew up comfortably using his inheritance and has no sense of. responsibility He has an older brother called Mark, who works in the Air Force stationed under the SAC (Strategic Air Command) with headquarters in Omaha. Through his work as an intelligence officer in missile defense, he warned Randy about the unclear conflict and sent his family to Fort Repose, Florida. .That is when the story starts getting more interesting and the premise of the whole novel.

Randy’s life was turned upside down and now he realized he is responsible for not just himself but Mark’s family Helen, Ben & Peyton ( Mark’s Children). In the novel, Randy undergoes character development. He became a leader to Bragg’s family but also the people around him including his neighbors and friends. He also started taking relationships more seriously as in the first chapter, he was described as a playboy/womanizer.

This novel is really more than just human survival but also finding the strength to face unimaginable;e adversity. It also serves as a social commentary for the society at the time. If you do not mind about racism and sexism in the story, I do recommend reading the book.

I wonder if this book was banned due to the language it's used but considering Pat lived in a different era, it’s worth reading especially for preppers because inside the novel, it gives a picture of what would/should do when shit hits the fan.

Think about a society where money is worthless, your checks, whatever you name it is worthless. They were all going back to the oldest system in the world, barter.

World war 3 is something that we often heard lately. There are nations out there with nuclear power and have the possibility to launch their missiles whenever they wish to do so. We never know when but this novel is a great reminder that this was a long time fear that could/might have come true in the coming years or before anything else.

The overall novel was gripping, chilling and Pat has the ability to hold you down in your seat and get lost, in this small town in Florida and its people dealing with the aftermath of nuclear war.

Honestly, this is one of the most intriguing apocalyptic novels I’ve read. I am happy to have found this and the books I’ve been reading lately have been quite inspiring and very enjoyable to read. See you next week!

Join me into this fun and check our for more here Hive Book Club Highlight #311